


when you crave someone (to be there at dawn)

by likelightninginabottle



Series: you're my head, you're my heart [Or: The Shameless!Thiam 'verse] [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: But It's Not Like Theo is Much Better, Certifiable Vehicular Decimation, Established Relationship, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Is It A Secret if You've Never Tried to Hide It?, Liam Dunbar vs Public Decency, Liam and Theo Are Just Really Feral For Each Other, Lust that is Mistaken for Bloodlust Quite Regularly, M/M, Maybe Some Actual Sexual Content Too Later On, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Pack, POV Outsider, Secret Relationship, The Pack Finds Out, The Pack Ships It, Which One of Us is Baby: An Ongoing Debate, just to keep things spicy, physical affection, so many misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:35:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27647591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likelightninginabottle/pseuds/likelightninginabottle
Summary: The backseat of the truck is completelytorn to pieces, ripped apart, stuffing coming out of the cushions, speckled with what Mason presumes, is driedblood. Theotherbackseat window, opposite to the one Mason is currently trying tophase through, is directly in his line of sight, and it'scracked, glass spiderwebbing from a spot in the middle."Oh mygod," Mason breathes, horrified. "Is this how theyfight?""Liam and Theo don'tfight," corrects Corey, almost absently, "they f--", he cuts himself off, soundingverystrangled. He clears his throat once, twice, and then turns back to Mason. "Well, we should probably get you to bed." He smiles, but it looks a little manic on his face. Mason narrows his eyes.(In which, for once, Liam and Theoaren'toblivious, even if the pack very muchis.)
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Series: you're my head, you're my heart [Or: The Shameless!Thiam 'verse] [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2061186
Comments: 101
Kudos: 229





	1. mason hewitt and the mystery of the decimated truck interior

**Author's Note:**

> I know a lot of you were hoping for ch 7 of you only feel one emotion, but I had a week that was WAY too busy, so it'll go up next week :D In the meantime, please enjoy this absolutely RIDICULOUS idea that I had and that I LOVE haha I've been thinking about it for a really long time and now that I'm apparently, a person who writes, I decided to give it a go :)) I was going to wait until I had written the whole thing, but whatever, thought y'all might be into what I have so far. It'll probably come out to be 2-5 chapters, I haven't decided yet, but probably not more than that haha. the title is from a bastille lyric, because I am nothing if not predictable. Also, this was proofread in the LOOSEST possible sense of the word "proofreading" so please feel free to point out any typos or whatever. thanks!!
> 
> Enjoy!! :DD

"All I'm _saying_ ," Mason says, as he pulls on the back door latch of Theo's truck, "is that the defense can _get it_." He rolls his eyes. "Does that mean I want to fuck the defense? _Absolutely not_." He shuts the door behind him, ignoring Liam's muttered, _oh my god_ , and pulls his seatbelt on, not relenting. "I'm just saying, that they can _get it_." He smirks. " _Maybe,_ I should come to lacrosse practice with you more often."

Theo snorts. "Yeah, great call," he says. "I'm sure Stanford won't mind you cutting class just to drive to UCLA and watch a bunch of sweaty idiots run back and forth across a field." Liam doesn't even look over as he whacks Theo on the arm, and Mason almost winces at the overly loud _smack_ that results.

"Hey, you never know" Mason replies, grinning. "Might get elective credit, or something. Private schools are like that."

Mason sees Liam frown in the side mirror as Liam pulls his own seatbelt on. "They can _not_ ' _get it_ ', they're so . . . " he gestures vaguely, flailing, until Theo smacks his hand away. Mason fights a smile. ". . . _Mediocre-looking_ , are you _kidding me_?" Liam finishes. He turns around halfway in the passenger seat, elbow resting on the center console compartment as he meets Mason's eyes, wrinkling his nose. "You know what _else_ they can't get?" Liam asks, and Mason sees Theo roll his eyes in the rearview mirror so hard that it's a miracle they don't fall out of his head, as he mouths the words, perfectly synced with Liam's groan of " _goddamn lacrosse_ ". "I swear to _god_ ," he sighs, loud and dramatic, slumping all the way down in his seat. "We've had practice _every goddamn day this week_ , and they still suck _ass_. How the _fuck_ are we supposed to survive the D1 championships?" He rakes both his hands across his face.

"First of all," Mason replies, "I know it's easy to forget what _real_ people _look like_ , when you live with," he gestures to Theo, because, like, _Jesus fucking Christ_ , who just crooks an amused brow at him in the rearview mirror, "but the defense _can get it_. And second, I'm pretty sure you're being dramatic."

"I'm _not_ ," Liam whips around, seemingly just to glare at him, and Theo manages the beginning of a snicker, before it's cut off, and his whole body _snaps_ to Liam, eyes narrowed.

 _" Liam_ ," he growls, low and _dangerous_ , so dangerous that _Mason_ gulps. "Did you _not fucking shower_?" Mason's pretty sure the last time he heard Theo's voice _this_ threatening, someone died. "What's the goddamn _rule_ for if you want me to pick you up after lacrosse practice?" Liam looks unperturbed for someone who's about to be fucking _slaughtered_ , turning back around to face the windshield and slumping in his seat.

"Don't stink up the truck," Liam replies, dutifully, and then, "guess I forgot," he says, shrugging one shoulder, so _clearly_ fake nonchalance, like the two people who know him better than anyone on this _planet_ aren't _also_ in this car, seeing right through him.

" _Is that right_ ," Theo murmurs and Mason sees the lightning-quick flash of claws that extend and retract on the steering wheel. They accelerate faster, and Mason is starting to remember why it took him so much convincing to get into a car with the two of them in the first place. "You _forgot_ , huh?" And _then_ they're _really_ accelerating, and Mason has to grip the handle above the door, uselessly, as they _hurl_ through the streets, Theo looking absolutely _furious_ , and Mason _genuinely_ thinks he's going to _die_. Liam's playing Angry Birds on his phone, unaffected.

He's just typing out his goodbye-forever text to Corey, when they _screech_ to a stop, right outside Enzo's, and Mason can finally _breathe_. He scrambles to pull on the latch, and he's halfway out the door, when he notices that neither of them have made a move to exit the truck.

"Uh, guys?" Mason raises an eyebrow, one foot still half-up in the air, as he turns to look at them. "I thought we were getting pizza." He hooks a thumb behind him, trying to hide his bewilderment, and only managing a semi-neutral, "Corey's waiting for us inside."

"You go inside," Theo replies, through gritted teeth, eyes fixed firmly in front of him. "We'll meet you there. _Dunbar_ over here needs to learn his goddamn lesson." Liam waves from the front seat, waggling his fingers cheerfully.

And with _that_ completely non-threatening message, they're _speeding_ out of the parking lot in _just_ as much of a frenzy as they _entered_ in. Mason's stuck standing there for a couple seconds, completely bemused, before he turns to enter Enzo's, small bell ringing as he swings the door open.

\---

"There's _no way_ I can go back _there_ ," Mason groans, trying to massage his temples and quell the migraine that Liam and Theo always seem to induce, starting from "I have a plan. It involves Theo, hunters, an abandoned zoo, and some elements of Home Alone" back in senior year, all the way to today, with Theo driving like he has nothing left to live for, and Liam not believing that the defense could _get it_. "They sounded like they were going to _fight_ , like" he waves his hand, a little wild, " _really fight_. _God_ , they have the _weirdest_ friendship. I wish they would just get _together_ already and put us _all_ out of our goddamn misery _._ "

Corey doesn’t look sympathetic at _all_. In fact, he looks kind of like he's trying not to laugh, as he bites into a thick, greasy slice. _He's an awful boyfriend_ , Mason thinks, a little uncharitably, before Corey decides to make an executive decision, taking Mason's vigorously-massaging hand and stilling it by tangling his own fingers with Mason's. Mason takes back every bad thought he's ever had about him, because Corey is obviously an angel incarnate and Mason loves him very much.

"Well," Corey muses, mouth twitching. Mason leans in to kiss it, just because he can, basking in the way it makes Corey's smile widen. "It _has_ been a while since we've had date night. Since _someone_ had to be a freakin' genius and go to _Stanford_." Corey makes a face, and Mason wrinkles his nose.

"We are _not_ having sex in your dorm," Mason says, immediate, because he may be desperate, but he's not quite _that_ desperate. Yet. "We can get a _hotel room_." Corey snickers and smacks his hand, gently, playfully admonishing.

" _No,_ " Corey replies, "I meant like, a _night on the town_." He waggles his eyebrows, a ridiculous display that Mason finds comical, and like, weirdly arousing, in some kind of Pavlovian response. "Let me show you 'round L.A.?"

Mason grins, helpless.

\---

They get back to Liam and Theo's apartment complex, sometime around six-thirty in the morning, just as the sun is starting to rise. Mason feels like his eyes are going to fall out of his _head_ , they're so dry and tired, but that could just be the glitter. He has body glitter in places he _never_ thought he would have body glitter, but he's pretty sure that's par for the course in Los Angeles.

The Uber drops them right in front of the building, and Mason is pleasantly surprised to catch sight of Theo's truck in the morning light, surprisingly unharmed. Considering the way he was driving yesterday, Mason would _not_ have been shocked to see it completely totaled, and/or being pulled out of a river, with Liam's body still strapped into it. He almost misses it, as absently as he's cataloging everything with his lack of sleep and desire to get into a warm bed, but Mason isn't _Mason_ for nothing. He almost _immediately_ does a double take, _launching_ himself toward the truck, both hands pressed against the windows, like pressing closer will make the image make any more sense. Corey, who was, up until very recently, attached to one of the aforementioned hands, is helpless to do anything but move with him, landing against the side of the truck with a muffled _thunk_.

"The _hell_?" Corey snaps, eyeing Mason like he's _losing his mind_ , and Mason thinks, distantly, _maybe he is,_ because.

The backseat of the truck is completely _torn to pieces_ , ripped apart, stuffing coming out of the cushions, speckled with what Mason presumes, is dried _blood_. The _other_ backseat window, opposite to the one Mason is currently trying to _phase through_ , is directly in his line of sight, and it's _cracked_ , glass spiderwebbing from a spot in the middle.

"Oh my _god_ ," Mason breathes, horrified. "Is this how they _fight_?"

"Liam and Theo don't _fight_ ," corrects Corey, almost absently, "they f--", he cuts himself off, sounding _very_ strangled. He clears his throat once, twice, and then turns back to Mason. " _Well_ , we should probably get you to bed." He smiles, but it looks a little manic on his face. Mason narrows his eyes.

"Right," he replies, slowly, grabbing Corey's hand back, and following him to the elevator, resting his tired head on Corey's warm shoulder as it starts to rise.

\---

When Theo opens the door, bright-eyed, hair mussed, with the corner of his mouth twitching into a smile, only wearing a threadbare sweatshirt and black boxers, there's absolutely _no sign_ that he got into a fist fight so bad that it resulted in certifiable vehicular _decimation_ , and so Mason is content to let it go.

He greets them with, "Hey, sorry we ghosted you at Enzo's," and an apologetic wince, "we got . . . " he clears his throat, rubbing his neck a little awkwardly, _"distracted._ Liam's still asleep," he says, rolling his eyes. "He has an early morning practice in a bit. I usually go for a run right now, but I can show you around?" and Mason nods, because somehow Liam's lacrosse scholarship money lets them rent on the _bougie_ side of campus, and he _does_ actually want to look around. He has almost put the entire truck-destruction incident out of his mind, when Theo says, "let me go put on some clothes," and turns around, and Mason is unable to stop the high, strangled noise that's ripped out of his throat, when he sees it.

The vicious, _painful_ looking trail of bruises that line Theo's leg, starting from the _ankle_ , and moving up, up, _up_ , until Mason loses track of them, blue, black, purple green. Theo turns back around, eyebrow raised in askance, and Mason looks to Corey for help, except he gives _none_ , _both_ eyebrows raised, and all Mason is able to do is gesture pointedly at the back of Theo's leg, making _some_ kind of noise that he hopes is intelligible. Theo's expression remains confused, until he follows Mason's line of sight, glances at the back of his own leg, and groans.

"Chimera healing," he shrugs, wincing, "you know how it is." Even though Mason emphatically does _not_ know how it is, and he doesn't think _anyone_ should have to know how it is. "Guess it's a pants kind of day, today," Theo chuckles, and Mason, suddenly _filled_ with dread, thinks, _this isn't healthy_.

But, then again, it's not really any of his business. Which is something he tells himself, very firmly, multiple times inside his own head, as he manages a strained, "I have to go freshen up," and flees to the guest bathroom. He rinses his face a couple times, just to feel more _awake_ and less like he's in a _fever dream_ , and then a couple more times after _that_ , just to get rid of all the _goddamn body glitter_.

When he comes back to the living room, Corey's lounging on the couch, absently scrolling on his phone. Mason's about to join him when he hears some suspicious low whispering coming from the kitchen, and goes to investigate.

There's an omelet sizzling in a pan on the stove, half done, but the two other occupants of the room seem to have forgotten it entirely. Liam, looking _very_ awake, has Theo crowded up against the fridge, and Mason can't hear what they're saying (because of his non-supernatural hearing and their low murmurs, or maybe just because of the blood _rushing through his ears_ ), but their bodies are entirely flush, pressed against each other, Theo's eyes wide and wild, one of his wrists clutched firmly in Liam's hand (the one not encased in an oven mitt), the cuff of his sweatshirt now rolled up, presumably by _Liam_ , who's brushing his thumb over the thin skin of his wrist, over and over again, and it's _that_ , that makes Mason gasp, all over again.

Because if the bruises on Theo's legs were bad, this is _awful_ ; a horrible purpling mess sprawling over the _entire_ breadth of his wrist, and Mason thinks, _what the fuck_ , as Liam seems to _deliberately_ put pressure on it, thumb pressing in, and Theo draws a sharp, sudden inhale.

 _This is so fucked up_ , Mason thinks, and he's about to say something, when he realizes that they've both turned to him, apparently made aware of his presence by some alarmed noises he must've been making, and just as he thinks, _it's none of my business_ , he also thinks, _this isn't healthy, oh my god_ , for the _second_ time that morning. Thankfully, Theo seems to take the opportunity to slip out of Liam's grasp to head back to the omelet, and it's only as they separate briefly, that Mason gains the startling insight that Liam had his _thigh_ slotted between Theo's legs, and his mind crashes to a halt.

"Hey, Mase," Liam greets, with a wide, guileless smile, like he didn't spend the night physically maiming someone.

"Don't _hey, Mase_ , me," Mason snaps, more manic than he would like. "What the _fuck_?"

" _Babe_ ," Corey says from somewhere behind him, apparently alerted by the commotion in the kitchen or something like that, but Mason's not really paying attention to any of that, even as Corey tries to gently pull him back, with a soft, " _Don't--_ "

" _No_ ," Mason hisses. "I wasn't going to _say_ anything. Even though I _saw_ what happened to the truck. I fucking _saw_." Here, Liam has the decency to look a little guilty. Theo flips the omelet. "But what the _fuck?_ You guys are like _twenty-one_. You should _not_ be fighting like that any more." Liam frowns, and Theo finally turns around, head tilted. "This kind of violence, is like, _super_ unhealthy, oh my god," Mason shakes his head, disbelieving, "the _bruises? What the_ fuck?"

And _now_ , _finally_ , an appropriate reaction from Liam, as he starts squirming, discomfort clear in grimace of his mouth. _Good_ , Mason thinks, a little uncharitably, because would Theo even say anything? With his crush the size of goddamn _Europe_? Mason has been the one to call Liam out on his _shit_ since they were kids, and clearly it's Mason's responsibility _now_. He crosses his arms and narrows his eyes and hopes it looks effectively scrutinizing. Theo turns back to the omelet, flipping it, probably as an avoidance tactic because he's fucking emotionally repressed, and he's _shaking,_ and Mason feels a weird surge of protective _rage_ , as he pins Liam with a glare. " _What do you have to say for yourself?"_

"They're," Liam tries, voice cracking _horribly_ , before he winces, clears his throat, and tries again. " _They're not bruises_ ," he manages, all in a rush, before he spins around to face the stove instead of _Mason_ , and hides his face in the crook of Theo's neck.

" _Not bruises?"_ Mason asks slowly, tone absolutely _dripping_ with skepticism. Corey has gone suspiciously quiet in the corner, and Mason shoots him a look, but he seems to be very _deliberately_ avoiding Mason's eyes. Mason turns back to Liam and Theo, seething. "What _exactly_ would you call them then?" There's a couple beats of heavy, expectant silence, as Mason narrows his eyes until they're barely even _slits_ , and then:

"They're hickeys," Theo says finally, and his tone makes it _very_ evident that the shaking was because he was trying to suppress _laughter_ , not _fear_ , and Mason's so busy comparing the two, that he has to go over the words in his head, once, twice, _seven times_ , before they even _begin_ to make sense, and then when he _processes it_ , he's so shocked he almost _falls over_.

" _WHAT?"_ Mason _screeches_ , with just a little less calm than he would prefer. "On his _legs_?"

Liam's seeming discomfort dissipates _completely_ as he leans to examine the aforementioned darkened spots on the back of Theo's calves and thighs, face breaking into the _smuggest_ fucking smile Mason has seen in his _life_. Liam shrugs, unapologetic, as he turns back to face Mason, says, conspiratorial, "Gotta be _thorough_ ," and then drops a kiss, quick and chaste, onto Theo's sweatshirt-clad shoulder. Theo turns to Liam, automatically, and _smiles_ , open like Mason has _never_ seen before, as he leans in to nudge their noses together, before he turns back to the omelet. Liam sneaks a glance at Mason, and then slowly, sneakily, _demonstratively_ , lifts up the back of Theo's shirt, and it's more of the _same_ , but on an even _bigger scale_ , apparently, the dimples in the small of Theo's back absolutely _ringed_ in bruises. Theo turns around, and Liam's hand stays where it is, holding up Theo's shirt, revealing the _front_ of his torso too, and the _very_ evident _teeth impressions_ in the muscled V of his abdomen, before Theo notices and bats Liam's hand away with a harassed noise, the sweatshirt falling back down to hide it.

Mason thinks that he was actually shot by a gang member in some dark alley of downtown L.A. while he and Corey were out clubbing, and this is some kind of pre-death hallucination. He lets himself pursue this path of thought for a good thirty seconds before considering the alternatives, because his brain has completely ground to a halt.

"The _truck_?" Mason asks, a little frenzied. Theo turns back to eye him, looking a little concerned. He should be, because Mason feels like he's going to pass out. "The _fight?_ The fucked up back seat?"

Theo grimaces. "Liam _knows_ that he has to shower after lacrosse practice if he wants me to drive," he says, shooting a pointed, chastising look at Liam, who looks _supremely_ unapologetic, before he turns back to meet Mason's eyes. "Otherwise it's," he clears his throat, flushes a bit, " _distracting_."

"We didn't make it back home in time," Liam offers, wincing a little, knocking his shoulder gently with Theo's, and Mason tries to put the pieces together.

Mason blinks.

"The truck looks like _that_ ," he says, the realization dawning on him, "because you guys had _sex in it?"_ Mason wheezes indelicately, "what the _fuck? What the fuck? What the_ fuck, _you guys?"_ He swivels a bit, so that he has enough room to pace, and _pace_ he does, marching a _very_ satisfying line to the window, and then back to the entrance, over and over again until his head is a little clearer. "The seats were _completely torn up_ ," he mutters, half-hysterical, "you broke a _window."_

"Yeah," Liam says, a look on his face that's equal parts embarassed, apologetic, and _awed_. "Theo does this _thing_ with his tongue--"

" _Liam,_ " Theo hisses desperately, as he slings an arm around Liam's shoulders and covers Liam's mouth with his palm. "Mason does _not_ need to _know that_."

"I--" Mason tries, before he has to swallow, throat clicking, as he stills in his pacing and tries again. "So are you, like, _together?_ "

Liam looks sheepish, but Mason can honestly, barely register it, over his internal diatribe of, _what the fuck_. "Yeah," Liam admits, shrugging with one shoulder. "Have been for a little bit now."

"And you didn't _tell me?_ " Mason hisses, before backpedaling, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How long, exactly, is ' _a little bit'_?"

Liam looks to Theo, who looks back at Liam, and they share some kind of silent back and forth that Mason just does _not_ have the mental capacity to deal with today. Finally, they seem to come to some kind of impasse, and Theo turns around to face Mason completely, solemnly, and Mason is filled with an inexplicable kind of dread. "Three months ago," Theo says, and Mason thinks _oh, thank god_ , and he's _mad_ , but he's not _that_ mad, but Theo _continues_ , "we celebrated our four year anniversary."

\---

After they've cleaned up the broken plates littering the kitchen floor from Mason's _furious_ , but fucking _justified_ outburst, they sit around the living room, Mason taking up the whole couch, Liam sitting in the armchair in the corner, Theo sprawling in his lap, back flush against Liam's chest, and Mason can't even fucking _look_ at them, as he chews his omelet, gnawing furiously. Corey's sitting in the other armchair, fidgeting nervously, as he _should_ be because when Mason finally wheeled on him, accusatory, asking, _did you know?_ , Corey _winced_ , which was as clear as an admission.

"Since fucking _high school_?" Mason asks, once he's swallowed, trying to keep his tone calm and even because Liam and Theo only have, like, three plates left. " _FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL?"_

Liam grimaces, apologetic, but clearly he doesn't feel _that_ bad about it, judging by his palm resting broad and possessive on Theo's thigh, the other having inched up the front of Theo's sweatshirt. Theo's still wearing the goddamn oven mitt, not even flustered anymore, just _comfortable_.

"You remember when he moved in? The day after we found him in his truck?" Liam asks, reluctant. Mason nods slowly. "Yeah, we kinda got together that night?" Mason opens his mouth, and then shuts it again. He doesn't even _know_ what to say, he's completely out of _'what the fuck'_ s. "And," Liam hurries to add, "no one really trusted Theo back then? And so, we, like, didn't tell anyone, and _then_ ," Liam gesticulates a little wildly, until Theo catches Liam's frantically waving hand in his own, lacing their fingers together. Mason _seethes_. "And _then_ ," Liam repeats, resting his forehead against Theo's bicep, "after the _hunters_ , and whatever, everyone _did_ trust him, and they just made all these . . . Jokes? About the two of us? So we, just, like, assumed that they _knew_."

"A year later," Theo cuts in, "they started _matchmaking_. Trying to get us into these really fucking _bizarre_ situations." He shakes his head, corner of his mouth quirked up. "First you and Corey, then Lydia, then Scott, then Stiles and Malia." He huffs out a laugh. "That's when we realized that they _didn't_ actually know, and by then," he winces, "it was a little late to tell them. _You._ " he rushes to correct.

"But you told _Corey?_ " Mason asks, trying to keep the bitterness out of his tone, it doesn't work, evidently, because:

"Babe, I'm _so sorry_ ," Corey rushes, desperate, eyes wide and pleading. "They made me _promise_ not to tell." He looks so genuinely _distressed_ that Mason can't do anything but forgive him, giving him a reassuring nod. It, thankfully, makes him relax a little bit. "Besides," Corey adds, scrubbing a hand across his eyes, "they didn't _tell me_. I accidentally snuck up on them." He winces. "I was invisible so they didn't see _me_ until it was too late, and I didn't even see them until I _saw_ them," he sighs, eyes going a little unfocused, before muttering, " _god,_ did I _see_ them."

Mason frowns. "Why would you sneak up on them in their own apartment?"

"It wasn't _in_ the apartment," Corey replies, rolling his eyes and shooting a pointed, admonishing look at the other armchair, where Liam has wrapped both his arms around Theo's waist, face buried into the crook of his neck. "We were supposed meeting up at the _library_ , and I got there a little early, so I went to go look for them, and, _uh_ . . ."

It takes a second for it to dawn on him. "You're _kidding_ ," he says, almost _impressed_ , "the _library_?" He wrinkles his nose. "That's _disgusting_ , _oh my god_. You literally _have a room_!"

Theo shrugs. "It was too far," he offers. Mason is _less_ than impressed. "And besides," Theo says, grinning at Liam, "Baby's got an _intelligence kink_."

"There's no _fucking_ way that _I'm_ baby," Liam retorts, frowning back and pulling Theo in closer, " _you're_ baby."

Theo puts his forehead to Liam's, licks his lips slow and deliberate, drops his voice _low_ , and replies, "You _sure_ about that," like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, " _baby_?" Mason stares. Corey cracks a knuckle. Liam's looking a little wild, a little wide-eyed, staring, very obviously, at Theo's mouth. Mason's pretty sure they've _both_ forgotten that there are other people in the room, and he abruptly _understands_ how the library encounter went down.

"Am I _blind?"_ Mason asks, harried, turning to Corey, because Liam and Theo have checked out of the conversation _completely_. Mason plants his head in his hands. "Is _everyone else?"_

Corey's mouth quirks up as he shrugs. "Selective observation?" He frowns. "Confirmation bias?"

Mason grins. "College is a good look on you, Bryant," he says, enjoying the light flush that spreads up Corey's neck.

"We're _planning_ to tell everyone," Liam interrupts, finally dragging his eyes away from Theo, _very_ reluctantly, like it physically _pains_ him, as he turns to Mason. Liam brings their laced hands up to his mouth, brushes his lips against Theo's knuckles, admits, "We're going to make an _Announcement_ over winter break, so that we can just tell everyone at once. We just have to get through next week."

"Scott's coming to watch Liam play next week," Theo says, eyebrows raised expectantly. "He's staying here too. You and Corey are going to be in the guest room, and Scott's sleeping in the living room."

"So, you, _what?"_ Mason frowns. "Want me to help you _hide it_ from him?"

"Just for a week," Liam pleads, " _one week_ , that's it, I _swear_."

"You're kind of obvious," Mason points out, gesturing vaguely at _all_ of Theo and Liam, their bodies melding together on the small armchair, because he can't even pick one _specific_ aspect to illustrate his point.

"We've never tried to _hide_ it," Theo replies, frowning, "it's not like we'll be doing anything _different_. If he hasn't noticed so far, we'll probably be fine." He twists back to plant a kiss on top of Liam's head. Liam _beams_. Mason rolls his eyes.

"Fine," Mason acquiesces, sighing, "I'll _help_. _But_ ," he adds, "you have to tell me about the tattoo." Because _yes_ , he _noticed_ , not only has Liam not told him about being in a semi-stable vaguely-violent relationship for the last four years, Liam failed to mention the fucking _tattoo_ he got on his left palm, a dark, lined anchor, the ring of it looping all the way around Liam's third finger. Liam looks sheepish, Theo looks smug, and Mason eyes them both, assessing.

"Winter break, I _promise,_ " Liam swears, " _please_?"

Mason lets out a long gusty sigh, before thumping his head down onto the coffee table. It lands on the omelet plate instead. It doesn't improve Mason's mood, but he's a good fucking friend. He groans.

" _Fine_ ," he grumbles, right into the plate. "Fucking _fine_."


	2. scott mccall and the unforseen consequences of a lacrosse jersey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott finally comes to town. Shenanigans ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this one's because I'll be too busy to write ch 8 of you only feel one emotion for a little while. But hey, winter break is almost here so I'll have time then :))
> 
> Anyways, I had a LOT of fun writing this haha. Shameless!Thiam is my favorite and they make me laugh.
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

After an entire day of Scott coming to L.A., and Liam and Theo showing him around, Mason lets himself breathe a sigh of relief, because it appears that Scott really _is_ as oblivious as they assumed he would be. So oblivious that Mason, honestly, is kind of impressed, considering that Liam _definitely_ doesn't _have_ to keep his hand firmly in Theo's back pocket as they stroll through the streets, but _does_ nonetheless. Scott doesn't even bat an eye. Mason gapes. Corey snickers.

The day goes by without a hitch, and before he knows it, they're back at Liam and Theo's apartment, trying to get the pull-out couch to actually _pull out_.

"Where are the blankets?" Scott asks, wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans while the rest of them continue to struggle, after Theo told him to keep his hands off, because the furniture they have is, apparently, much too fragile for the full strength of a True Alpha (and Mason's pretty sure they _really_ can't afford to spend any _more_ money in replacements, you know, _considering_ ).

"Closet down the hall," Theo replies absently, teeth clenched as he continues to push, before releasing, with a sigh. "You know," Theo says, annoyed, as soon as Scott disappears down the hallway, swiveling around to face Liam, who's sitting comfortably on the other side of the room, back propped up against the wall and legs sprawled out on the floor, "you _could_ help."

"Nah," Liam dismisses, popping a potato chip into his mouth, before raking his eyes, unashamedly, _demonstratively_ down Theo's sweaty, tank-top-and-skinny-jeans clad body. "I'm enjoying the _show_."

"I swear to _god_ , Dunbar," Theo seethes, "one of these days I'm gonna wrap my hands _right_ around your neck and--"

" _Promise?_ " Liam asks, voice gone breathy and eyes completely dark, and Theo responds, almost automatically, stilling completely, pupils dilated, a light flush spreading over his nose and cheekbones, and Mason has to pick his _jaw_ up off the floor, before he can interrupt _whatever the fuck_ is about happen right there in the middle of the living room.

" _Stop that,_ " Mason hisses furiously. "What is _wrong_ with you, oh my god, Scott is _right there_." He plants his hands on his hips, looking between the two of them, hoping the frown on his face comes across as appropriately admonishing. "Do I need a goddamn _spray bottle_ to deal with the two of you?"

Liam rubs his neck, looking sheepish, and opens his mouth to respond, but:

"Uh, Liam?" Scott calls, voice echoing down the hall, before they start to hear footsteps. He emerges into the living room, frowning down at the thick _chains_ in his hands, that he apparently found in the closet. "You didn't tell me you were still having problems with your control," he says, a concerned little wrinkle making itself evident between his furrowed brows.

Mason turns back to Liam, who has gone completely still, sees the panic in his eyes, sees the way _Theo_ has _his_ trained firmly on the floor, the flush continuing to make its way down his _neck_ , and abruptly, Mason _understands_ what the chains are for, and has to resist the urge to groan loudly and drop his head into his hands.

Liam looks to Mason, pleading, but Mason just shrugs, helpless, because if _Theo_ can't get away with lying to the True Alpha (at least, not anymore) there's no chance in _hell_ that Mason could.

There's a beat of silence. Then another. That's when Theo finally seems to regain his wits, planting his hands on the couch and looking Scott square in the eye. Mason's stomach _fills_ with an _overwhelming_ kind of dread at whatever's about to come out of Theo's mouth.

"He doesn't have issues with his control," Theo says carefully, and Liam looks like he wants the _ground_ to swallow him whole. Corey opens his own bag of chips, the packaging crinkling obnoxiously loud, and then _crunches_ one into his mouth, looking between Theo and Scott and Liam with wide eyes like he's watching an especially fascinating tennis match. "Put that _away_ ," Theo snaps, turning to Corey and frowning. "You'll spoil your appetite." Core _y_ rolls his eyes, and ties the chip bag up, presumably for later. Mason frowns. "He's usually really _good_ ," Theo says slowly, turning back to Scott, "barely even _needs 'em_." Mason wants to _die_ , because he did _not_ want to know _any of this_. The only consolation is that on the other side of the room, Liam look about the same, a sad, homeless chip hanging listlessly from his stilled fingers, stalled between the opened bag and his panicked, gaping mouth.

"So what are the _chains for_?" Scott presses, shifting where he stands, the chains clinking loudly, a reminder that _none_ of them want to acknowledge.

"You know," Theo says airily, "just in case." He gestures vaguely in the air. "For when it all gets to be _too much_." Liam chokes on air, and Mason finally gives into the burgeoning need to bury his face in his hands. "Besides," Theo says faintly, focusing his attention back on the couch, and Mason can't tell if it's supposed to be a distraction for _himself_ , or for _everyone else_ , as his thighs start to flex, and even _Scott's_ eyes dart down briefly to watch, "They're mostly for me, anyway." And _then_ Liam _actually_ chokes on something, and Scott has to dart to the other side of the room and _pound_ on his back indelicately, before a disgustingly soggy piece of potato chip comes flying out of his throat. Mason normally wouldn't touch those chains with a ten-foot pole, _considering_ , but he did make a _promise_ , and Mason is a good fucking friend, so he sucks it up, using Scott's temporary distraction to discreetly place the chains back into the closet, and retrieve a pile of blankets instead.

When he gets back to the living room, Theo is rubbing slow, comforting circles on Liam's shoulder as Scott proffers a glass of water, which Liam grabs with both hands, and chugs down in two, vaguely alarming, gulps. In the chaos, apparently, Theo had gotten the couch to pull out and Mason places the blankets down neatly on the cushion, and they all wave away Scott's earnest thanks with beatifically innocent smiles, before sitting down for dinner. Theo made it, it's ravioli, and it's infuriatingly delicious. Mason chews it aggressively in a way that makes Scott eye him, concerned. Theo makes Corey eat two whole servings, and kisses him on the forehead before they all head to bed. Mason frowns, before following Liam to the master bedroom, while Corey heads to the guest room. Theo stays behind to water the plant in the corner of the living room, the one with a small hat on it, the one they call _Bernard_.

" _Chains?_ " Mason hisses, scandalized, once the door is shut. "You couldn't have been _normal_ , and gotten, like, oh, I don't know, _handcuffs_? _Like everyone else?"_ Mason paces a line down the bedroom, glaring at Liam. Theo enters the bedroom, completely ignoring the both of them, heading nonchalantly into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. "You know," Mason continues, half-hysterical, "small, convenient, _easy to hide_."

"They don't hold us well enough," Liam says absently, as he opens the closet door, rummaging through the hangers before emerging with a pair of sleep pants.

He rakes both his hands through his hair. "Am I going to have to cover up anything else from your homemade _sex dungeon_?" he wheezes.

"Nah," Liam replies, smiling innocently. Mason doesn't buy it for a _second._ "We put all the dungeon stuff into storage before you got here."

Mason narrows his eyes suspiciously. "I can't tell if you're kidding or not."

" _Babe,"_ Liam calls, the corner of his mouth twitching in rhythm with the pulse of the vein above Mason's eyebrow, "did we keep anything from the box under the bed?"

Theo answers, voice muffled through the bathroom door, " _I think we might still have the--_ " before his head pops out of the bathroom, and he suddenly catches sight of Mason, eyes widening in surprise, "I mean," he tries, frantically, "Whips? What whips?" He disappears back into the bathroom.

Mason massages his temples. Liam snickers.

"Do _not_ have sex while we're here," Mason hisses, with an accusing finger pointing straight at Liam's stupid face. "While _Scott's_ here."

"We won't," Liam promises solemnly, which is right when Theo finally emerges from the bathroom, bare-chested, hair flopping into his face from the lack of product. His abdomen is littered with hickeys that look _alarmingly_ fresh, and Mason jolts a bit, because he doesn't even _know_ when Liam would've had the _time_ to put those there, considering they've all been out together since nine in the morning. Liam's eyes rove over Theo for a bit, before he turns back to Mason with a wince. "We _might_ ," he amends.

"I _hate_ you," Mason spits, "so, so much."

"We _won't_ ," Theo promises, collapsing into the bed. Liam groans. Mason rolls his eyes.

\---

"Why'd you bring so many clothes?" Mason asks, frowning, when he and Corey are safely in the guest room, and Corey is rummaging through, what appears to be, an entirely _full_ closet, looking for clothes to sleep in.

"Oh," Corey turns to him, "I didn't. These were already here." He shrugs, a small smile playing around his mouth. "They've been trying to get me to move from what Theo calls, _the nasty-ass soul-sucking dorms_ , for, like, _months_." He turns back to the closet, finally finding a pair of sweatpants. "But, like, live _here_ , with _them_?" He makes a face. "No _thanks."_

"Right," Mason says absently, changing into his own clothes, and staring at the wall.

They're tucked into bed, snuggled up, warm and half-asleep, when Mason finally can't help but pry. "You didn't think it was _weird_ ," Mason asks, "that Theo _made_ you eat all that food?"

"Why would it be weird?" Corey mumbles into the pillow, half-conscious. "They hate the meal plan food," he murmurs. "Besides," he says, "they're just like that. Theo packs my lunch everyday. Liam plays catch with me on the weekends."

"I thought that was _lacrosse practice,"_ Mason manages, but Corey doesn't reply, evidently already asleep. "Right," Mason says faintly, tightening his arm around Corey's waist before shutting his eyes with _conviction_ , hoping to escape this realm for a little bit, and _praying_ that when he wakes up, he'll be back in the real world, instead of wherever the _fuck_ he's landed. "Right."

\------

While Scott's _really excited_ to see Liam play in the championships, his visit _may_ have had ulterior motives.

The thing _is_ , Scott has finally had enough. Enough of the _glances_ and the _pining_ and the _heart-eyes_ that have lasted almost _four-and-half_ years now.

Enough is enough, and Scott McCall can become a goddamn _Alpha_ out of pure _conviction_ , he can get his two dumbass betas together. It's been driving everyone _crazy_ for years. Also, whoever finally gets them together wins a pool of, what has grown to be over the years, fifteen-thousand-dollars. And Scott's trying to save up for a new bike.

And _so,_ he comes to their apartment, pushes for a romantic sightseeing tour of L.A., and tries not to be too disappointed when Liam and Theo act like they've _always_ acted around each other; oblivious and snarky, with the vague, ever-present sexual tension that always seems to crackle around them.

L.A. is _nice_ , and it's good to see them, _all of them_ , of course, but despite Scott's efforts, by the night of the championship, they seem to be at square one.

Theo drives them all in his truck, Scott sitting in the front, Mason and Corey in the back, all decked out in UCLA colors. Corey has an obnoxiously glittery sign spelling out Liam's name and jersey number on it. Theo's wearing Liam's jersey. This is something no one recognize the consequences off until _much_ later.

The game goes fine, both teams neck-and-neck, until Liam catches sight of them in the stands, eyes flaring for a brief moment, and then proceeds to play like a _maniac_ for the rest of the game. UCLA wins by a _landslide_ and the crowd is going _crazy_ , but instead of heading out to celebrate with his teammates like they expected, Liam follows them back to the truck, absolutely _fuming_. Scott is _beyond_ confused.

" _No_ ," Liam growls through a mouthful of fangs, when Theo makes a move to enter the drivers seat. He snatches the keys write out of Theo's hands. " _I'm driving_ ," Liam hisses, "because if you don't give me something to _do_ , I might actually claw your _fucking face off."_

Corey's grimacing. Mason looks _exhausted_. Scott frowns. "I thought that they didn't fight like this anymore," he whispers, while Liam and Theo are _having it out_ in the front of the car. Corey shrugs, half-hearted. Mason _laughs_ , half- _hysterical_.

"You would _think_ , right?" Mason replies, on a deranged-sounding giggle, and Scott frowns _harder_. The car accelerates dangerously, and Scott does his best not to claw into the shiny upholstery, so new-looking and smelling that it's _obvious_ that Theo takes great care of his truck.

"-- _dirty fucking trick, Raeken_ , you know how _distracted_ I was? What's the _rule_ , the _one fucking rule_?"

"No jersey on game day," Theo replies mockingly, propping his legs up on the dash in a manner that can't be anything other than _insolent_. "Sorry," Theo says, sounding the _least_ sorry Scott's _ever_ heard him be, and he catches the smirk playing on the line of his mouth in the side mirror. " _Guess I forgot._ "

"You're such a _shit_ ," Liam hisses _,_ car swerving dangerously, and Theo _laughs_ , like they're not hurtling down the road at physics-defying, non-L.A. speeds. Scott has died before, like, twice, and even _he_ fears for his life. Mason and Corey look almost _bored_ in the backseat. " _God, fuck you."_ Theo snorts, clearly opening his mouth for another snarky retort, but Scott is afraid that Liam's about to _lose it completely_ , so he cuts him off.

"Uh, Liam, buddy," Scott tries, sounding strangled and panicked, even to his own ears, "you _might_ want to _ease up_ on the--"

Liam growls, cutting him off, and they start going even _faster_ and that's when Scott stops trying to appeal to Liam's human side, and just starts praying instead.

\---

They make it back in one piece, and Liam is still snapping violently at Theo while he looks _supremely_ unbothered. Corey seems oblivious, while Mason looks like he's _filled_ with dread, and Scott is _so fucking confused._

Liam seems like he's going to _vibrate out of his skin_ the entire way up, and Theo seems almost _obnoxiously_ smug. As soon as they enter the apartment, Liam _hauls_ Theo bodily into the bedroom, the door slamming violently shut, and that's when the crashing and banging noises start.

"I _knew it,_ " Mason whispers, shaking his head, and making his way back to the front door. "I _fucking knew it_ , why'd we even _bother_ coming up here?" Corey winces sympathetically.

Scott frowns, making a move toward the bedroom door, but is stopped by Mason's hand gripping _tight_ on his forearm. "I have to go in there," Scott tries, despondently. "I'm the Alpha, I have to break up the fight."

"Liam and Theo don't _fight_ , they _f--_ " Mason says wearily, before cutting himself off. "Man," he tries, sounding _exhausted,_ "use your fucking _werewolf senses._ Does it _sound_ like they're fighting?" And with that, Mason and Corey disappear out the front door, and Scott absently notes the _ding_ of the elevator, as he stands there, confused, and considering the question, because right now, the answer is a solid and resounding _yes_.

Scott tries not to use his senses too often, used to respecting other people's privacy, but he doesn't think he really has a choice here, so reluctantly, he stretches them out.

He hears the ripping noises, a loud _thud_ , like someone being slammed up against a wall, a strangled moan, Liam's voice growling low, dangerous, " _leave the jersey on_ ", and Scott thinks, with realization, _Oh._

Scott thinks, with glee, _Oh._

Scott hears the susurration of skin-on-skin, a long, high whine, and Scott thinks, with horror, _Oh_. _Oh no._

He _sprints_ to the elevator, his feet barely even touching the ground, slamming the front door behind him, and scrambling to hit the button, but he can still _hear everything_ , because of the goddamn _Alpha werewolf senses_ that are _stuck like this_ , unable to be pulled back in, where ignorance was bliss. The door to the staircase is locked, and so he has no choice but to keep pressing the button frantically, when he starts to hear these _truly scarring_ squelching noises, Theo's hoarse, "Fuck, _Liam,"_ like it's _punched_ out of him, and Scott finally gives up on the elevator getting there before he has to _melt his whole brain_ out of his body (since apparently, Mason and Corey didn't _wait for him,_ the little _shits_ ) when he hears Liam's reverent hiss of, " _God_ , you're so _tight_ ," and that's when Scott starts to get desperate, sprinting back towards the apartment and casting a glance around until he catches sight of the balcony, sliding open the door, and standing on the edge, eyeing the drop warily. It's five floors, which is _dangerous_ , but it's not like Scott _hasn't_ defied the laws of physics before. Scott tries to do the mental math, which is _way_ more math than he's actually capable of, but he hears _another_ choked off moan, some heavy panting, and Liam's voice, dark, " _That's it, sweetheart_. Fucking _take_ it," and a loud cry that _could_ be Liam's name, if one were to listen closely -- and Scott his trying his _hardest_ to _not_ listen too closely -- and _that's_ what halts Scott's attempts at calculating the formula for projectile motion as he makes his decision, just as the rhythmic thudding begins.

He jumps.

\---

Scott doesn't break any bones, but he does do something _very strange_ to a muscle in his leg. He doesn't take the time to examine it too carefully because it's gone in a couple hours anyways.

"So," Scott says, feigning nonchalance in the kitchen, the next morning, while Liam attempts to make breakfast. He _knows_ Theo's still asleep, and he _thinks_ Mason and Corey are passed out on the couch, but honestly, he hasn't been paying attention to his surroundings, one-track mind and all that, "you're dating Theo?" He tries not to sound _too_ gleeful, but he's pretty sure he fails. Liam turns around from the pancake on the griddle, holding his limbs gingerly like they're still sore and Scott has to forcibly _keep_ the memories of last night to keep from resurfacing, even as he fights a grin.

"I'm not dating Theo," Liam says carefully, looking a little wary, and Scott's grin falters, as he narrows his eyes. Liam's heart doesn't skip a beat.

"You're not dating Theo," Scott echoes faintly, disbelieving.

"I'm _not dating Theo,_ " Liam repeats slowly. An inhale, an exhale, and then a cautious, "I _did_ date Theo, a while ago." He sighs. "But," he says, "I'm not dating him _now._ "

Scott feels like the room is spinning. Everyone in Beacon Hills is going to be _heartbroken_ , because Liam and Theo have been _endgame_ , a self-fulfilling prophecy, a self-evident _truth_ , completely and perfectly _inevitable_ , the way they move around each other and carve out a space in their souls for the other, the way they _fit_ together like Scott hasn't seen _anyone_ else do.

"He's your ex-boyfriend," Scott says distantly, voice a little hoarse, a little heartbroken, mind whirring. Liam nods, turning back to the pancake. "What _happened?"_

"It was because of me," Liam says neutrally, "that he's not my boyfriend anymore."

His heart rate is still perfectly steady, voice perfectly truthful, and Scott feels like he's losing his _mind._

"What'd you _do?"_ Scott asks despondently, grasping at straws, desperate. "We can _fix it_ , okay? We can . . . We can--"

"Scott," Liam says gently, placing the pancake on a plate, before turning back to face him, "relax," and Scott slumps right where he stands, absolutely miserable.

\-----

Mason corners Liam as soon as Scott and Theo go out to pick up lunch. Corey actually has _class_ today (and thus, he got all the leftovers from last night, packed into a brown sack with his name written on it in neat black Sharpie , by one Theo Raeken), which means that Mason doesn't have the backup that he would _prefer_ , but it's fine because Mason has learned how to hold his own a _long_ -ass time ago.

" _Not dating Theo?_ " is all Mason manages, bewildered and confused all at once, and absolutely _fuming_ about it. "And Scott _believed you_ , which means you were actually _telling the truth._ Did you guys somehow manage to _break up_ in the two weeks that I've been here? Or," Mason says, eyes widening as he comes to a _horrible_ realization, "by _together_ , did you just mean that you were some kind of," he gestures, sharp, in the air, "twisted _fuckbuddies_ , or something." Mason frowns, pointing one accusing finger straight at Liam. "I thought you _loved him."_

"I _do_ love him," Liam snaps back, before his eyes go a little unfocused, an embarassingly goofy smile creeping across his face. "I love him, like, _so_ much. Like, a _lot_. Like, _Mase--_ "

" _Okay_ ," Mason interrupts, because he can tell a tangent coming when he sees it. "So? What's the issue? I _know_ he loves _you_."

Liam's smile widens, and he sighs. "Yeah," he replies absently, eyes focused on some spot in the distance, " _yeah."_

" _Liam,_ " Mason snaps, before _actually_ snapping his fingers in front of his eyes sharply, twice, until Liam's eyes finally focus back on him. " _Hello? Ex-boyfriend?"_

"Winter break?" Liam pleads, eyes widening in a _very_ accurate approximation of a puppy. "You _promised_ you'd wait until then." Mason deflates.

" _Why,"_ Mason asks, tired, "do you have all these goddamn _secrets?_ Theo, and whatever you guys are, the goddamn tattoo . . ."

"Winter break," Liam repeats, with conviction. A promise. Mason sighs.

"Winter break," Mason relents.

\---

Theo's putting the Chinese takeout in actual bowls, because he's kind of stuck up like that, when everything goes to shit.

"That's a really nice tattoo, Theo," Scott says absentmindedly, absolutely clueless. "Does it mean anything?"

Mason's head _whips_ up, following Scott's line of sight to Theo's left _palm_ , where a dark, lined, _anchor_ is inked, the ring of it looping around Theo's third finger.

Mason freezes. Theo's _ring finger._

He points at Theo's palm, mouth gaping, before _whipping_ his head over to where Liam's standing, stock-still.

" _Oh,"_ Mason says, looking back to Theo, who's eyes have _also_ gone wide, but he's pretty sure it comes out more like a scream. " _Oh!"_

" _Hey, Mase, can I talk to you for a second?_ " Liam rushes out, frantic, hauling Mason by the arm towards the master bedroom.

" _Oh my god,"_ Mason hisses, turning his pointer finger to Liam, and then, again, " _Oh my god."_

Theo follows them closely, before shutting the door behind them.

" _Oh my god_ ," Mason continues, apparently _literally_ unable to say anything else. "Oh my _god_!"

And then, he starts to yell, or he _would_ , if Liam's palm weren't clamped firmly over his mouth as they both fall onto the bed. Finally, when the yells die down, Liam removes his hand from Mason's face, sighing.

"Yes," Liam admits. "Okay? _Yes."_

" _You?"_ Mason hisses, _completely_ hysterical, pointing at Liam, before turning the accusing finger to Theo, "And _you?"_ And then, again, in a slight scream: _"MARRIED?"_

" _Engaged_ ," Theo corrects with a wince. Mason can't keep his eye off the black tattooed band on his finger, the matching one on Liam's. He doesn't even _know_ how he missed _that_. He used to be _observant._ "But you still can't tell anyone, okay? _No one knows."_

Mason thinks back to the conversation he overheard in the kitchen. _'It was because of me that he's not my boyfriend anymore.'_ Mason jolts. " _You_ proposed," Mason realizes, turning to Liam, and Liam _beams_ , tangling his fingers with Theo's. Theo wasn't Liam's _boyfriend_ anymore because he was his _fiancé_. Mason thinks if he weren't sitting on the bed right now, he would collapse.

"I _did_ ," Liam says, bringing their hands up to brush his lips across Theo's knuckles.

"I can't _believe you guys_ ," Mason manages. "I'm _so fucking mad at you_ , but like," his voice goes hoarse, thick with emotion, "I'm so _happy_. Oh my god, _you guys_."

"If it makes you feel any better," Liam says, hooking his arm around Mason's shoulder, "I was gonna ask you to be best man over Winter Break."

That's when Mason starts to cry. "The _tattoos,"_ Mason wails, "it's because you're his _anchor,_ " Mason realizes, in between sobs, "and you're _his_ anchor." He plants his face solidly in his hands. "Oh my god, _you guys,"_ he repeats, manic, "you're getting _married."_

Theo grins wide, eyes bright and happy. " _Yeah, we are,"_ Theo says, pride evident in every single syllable, before he licks straight into Liam's mouth, and Mason can't even be mad about it as he cries harder.

\------

Scott leaves L.A. on a Sunday night, upset but _determined_. Winter Break starts in a couple days, everyone will be in Beacon Hills then, and he'll have the support of the pack at his back.

He'll get his dumbass betas together if it's the _last thing he does._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO!! The mystery of the anchor tattoo is solved :DDD now thiam just has to manage their winter break reveal  
> haha this was a lot of fun, I really had a good time writing it. Something about accidental voyeurism really makes me laugh. I hope you enjoyed :)
> 
> As always, tell me what you liked, what you didn't!! All feedback is welcomed and greatly appreciated!! If you want to come scream at me on tumblr, feel free to hit me up at [inabottlelikelightning](https://www.inabottlelikelightning.tumblr.com/)


	3. stiles stilinski and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad caller id

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of winter break is filled with surprises to say the least. In which Mason learns about important news stories and current events, Liam causes some more certifiable vehicular decimation due to animal-related misunderstandings, and Stiles tries to diagnose Theo with poisoning that isn't really poisoning. Also, there are evil pixies, because of course there are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it has BEEN a while, hasn't it? I wasn't going to finish this until I finished some of my other WIPs, but some people commented on this story pretty recently, and it reminded me of how much I LOVED writing this haha. Also, I was a little sad, and this cheered me up.
> 
> ALSO, I am apparently, now, a person who uses chapter titles! Feel free to check out the updates titles on this work (or, like "you only feel one emotion" because I added them there too :) ) if you would like to
> 
> I had an absolute BLAST writing this haha oh my GOD. this is SUPER dialogue heavy, and I would say sorry, except for how i'm not :D
> 
> enjoy!! :)

The four of them -- Mason, Corey, Theo, and Liam -- get back to Beacon Hills for Winter Break sometime around noon; exhausted and absolutely _starving._

"Who's gonna go get lunch?" Corey asks, collapsing down onto the McCalls' couch, right next to the cushion that Liam and Theo have claimed for themselves, Liam sprawled across Theo's lap.

No one answers for a little bit, before Theo groans. " _Fine_ ," he relents. "Get up, Liam, we're going to the diner."

" _No_ ," Mason snaps, shaking his head rapidly back and forth. "Absolutely _not_ , I will _not_ have a repeat of what happened in L.A. This is a _small_ town."

With L.A. and the engagement discovery and exploring Corey's nasty-ass soul-sucking dorm, came the exciting discovery that if they wanted to get food, they would have to walk a couple blocks, since Liam and Theo were banned from _every_ place on their street. Every single store, even the ones that didn't sell _food._

"You're going to do something _wildly_ inappropriate, and news'll get back to Mrs. Geyer _somehow,_ and then we'll _all_ be in trouble for not telling her about," Mason gestures vaguely at Liam's thumb absently brushing over Theo's knuckles, " _this."_

Liam snorts. "She _knows_ ," he says, bringing their hands up to his mouth and unraveling them a bit, before placing a kiss on Theo's palm. Mason wrinkles his nose. "Do you think I'd just move my _boyfriend_ into our _house_ , without telling her first?"

"And besides," Theo adds, wrapping his _other_ hand around Liam's too, "we didn't get kicked out of those places because we were having _sex."_

"Sure," Mason replies, unconvinced.

"He's telling the truth," Corey pipes up, shielding his face from the sunlight. "Turns out, are a _lot_ of ways you can get banned from places without being _publicly indecent."_

"Okay," Mason concedes, brow quirked. "Okay, fine. The diner?"

Corey sits up a bit. "The owner grabbed Theo's ass, and Liam punched him in the dick so hard that one of his testicles exploded."

Mason blinks.

"It was on the news," Liam says proudly, grinning. Theo smacks him on the arm.

Corey rolls his eyes. "They have his medical report framed in the master bathroom," he says. "Right next to the restraining order."

Mason _genuinely_ cannot bring himself to muster up a response. So, instead, he just continues. "The antique store?"

" _She_ was a werewolf," Corey says. "A Xianbei beta, I think, and she made some crack about bitten wolves, and, like, Liam's IED, and so Theo went to the bathroom and pulled the fire alarm, and the sprinklers ruined a bunch of her merchandise."

Mason swivels on Theo, who shrugs, unapologetic.

"Wait," Mason says slowly. "Bathrooms in California don't have fire alarms that you can just _pull._ It's a code violation. _"_

Liam's eyebrows raise all the way into his hairline, before he turns around to stare at Theo. Theo shoots Mason a dirty look.

"It's _weird_ that you know that," Theo snaps.

"Did you--" Mason tries. He stops, gulps, and then starts again. "Did you _start a fire?"_

"No," Theo says airily. "Of course not. That would be ridiculous."

Mason narrows his eyes. There's an uncomfortable, tense pause, before:

" _Fine,"_ Theo relents. "Maybe, like. A small one."

" _You--"_ Mason says, but he can't even get it out of his mouth. " _YOU--"_

"I _said_ it was a small one!" Theo shouts, holding his hands up defensively. "Just a little one, I swear! _Baby inferno_!"

 _Baby inferno_ , Liam mouths, incredulously.

"You're not _mad?"_ Mason asks, turning to Liam.

Corey's expression goes longsuffering. "Of _course_ he isn't."

Mason frowns. "How do you know?"

"Because I can _smell_ how turned on he is right now," Corey replies, wrinkling his nose.

Mason turns back to Liam, and yeah, yep, that's a boner. Liam quickly covers it up with his hands.

" _Me too,"_ Theo rasps, voice hoarse as he noses along the line of Liam's neck from behind him. Liam squirms, but concedes, baring his neck, and a growl escapes from _someone_ , Mason doesn't even _know who_. Liam's eyes are flared yellow, and Mason just wishes he had brought his spray bottle.

"Great," Mason says blankly. "Just. Awesome. Okay. The tourist shop. The one near the intersection."

"The salesgirl was being mean to Corey," Theo murmurs, right up against Liam's neck. Liam shudders, and Mason has to do his _best_ to not avert his gaze. "And so we took care of it."

"I thought you were done murdering people," Mason says, and Theo rolls his eyes.

"We just," Liam offers, "y'know." He flares his eyes brighter and flashes his fangs, hissing exaggeratedly, demonstrative.

"She was committed to an asylum near campus for paranoid delusions," Corey says, "because she kept saying the demons on her street were out to get her. There's a new person at the counter now, and they're not banned or anything, they just don't like going there."

"The _Wendy's_ ," Mason tries, half-hysterical.

"Okay, yeah," Corey concedes, nodding. " _That_ one they were caught having sex at."

Mason scoffs. "I can't _believe_ you had sex in a Wendy's bathroom, that's--"

"No," Corey says, "in the booth."

Mason feels his mouth flap for a couple seconds, before he forcibly snaps it shut, along with his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose to quell the impending, inevitable migraine that's become all-too-common in the last weeks. He named it _Thiam._

"You set a _fire_ for me?" he hears Liam murmur on the couch. "That's so fucking _hot._ "

And then the sounds of sloppy kissing and a soft moan, and a _loud_ whine, and Mason sighs, long and tired.

" _Fine,"_ he says to himself, as he swings the front door open. "I guess I'll just get lunch _myself."_

Theo detaches himself from Liam's mouth with a wet sucking noise. "No," he says, sounding breathless. "No, seriously it's fine, we'll do it. We're not _always_ disasters."

Much to Mason's mounting dread, they take Mason's car, and leave the house in search of lunch.

\---

When they come back, walking up the driveway where Mason has been waiting for the last thirty minutes, Liam's holding an alarming number of takeout bags in his hands.

Theo reaches out to help, but Liam just shifts _all_ the bags to the _other_ hand, and laces their fingers together.

"That's not what I--" Theo tries, before sighing. "Okay," he relents.

It would be cute, if Mason wasn't so fucking tired.

"Uh," Mason says, frowning, "where's the car?"

Theo snorts, Liam winces, and Mason _feels_ his facial expression automatically settle into longsuffering.

"Okay," Liam says, "before I tell you, just know that I _swear_ we'll pay for it."

Mason _seethes._ "If you _totaled my car_ , because you were driving like a _maniac_ like _last time--"_

"It wasn't like that," Theo replies, sounding genuine, if not slightly amused, and Mason resists the urge to cross his arms over his chest. "Liam was driving and there was a deer in the middle of the road, so I screamed, _'Liam, deer!'_ "

Mason narrows his eyes. "So?"

Theo nudges Liam with his elbow. "Tell him what you said."

Liam sighs. "Do I _have_ \--"

" _Yes._ Tell him what you _said."_

Liam winces again, not meeting Mason's eyes. " _'Yeah, sweetheart?'_ "

A throbbing migraine — _Thiam —_ makes itself known right above Mason's left eyebrow.

\---

"Oh, _good_ ," Stiles breathes, after _bursting_ through the front door, panting. "You guys are already here."

He makes his way to the coffee table, pilfering a handful of curly fries, before stuffing them into his mouth. The rest of them watch, bewildered. Liam is napping with his head on Theo's chest, and his legs strewn across Corey's lap.

"We've got a problem," Stiles says, muffled through his mouthful of seasoned potato. Mason grimaces.

\------

"That is," Stiles says, crossing his arms, "maybe the _worst_ plan you've come up with. Like, ever."

" _Well,_ " Liam grumbles, "everyone else seems to think it'll work just fine, so--"

"No, it's like, _really_ stupid," Mason interjects.

Malia nods. "Borderline suicidal."

Liam turns to Theo, hoping for some support, but all he gets is a wince, and a conciliatory half-shrug, the fucking _traitor_.

" _Theo,"_ he snaps, but Theo just shakes his head.

"Sorry, sweetheart," he says, nudging his shoulder against Liam's, "they're _right._ The pixies are demanding to speak with the _Alpha_ , and if _you_ go instead, they'll take it as an insult. They'll _tear you apart."_

"I _used_ to be the Alpha," Liam grumbles, disgruntled. " _Kind of_. When Scott left. And, _besides_ , he's still in negotiations with the Beta Pack, he doesn't have _time_ to go argue with fairies in the woods."

Stiles snorts. " _Diplomatic,"_ he mock-praises, "well done, kiddo, you're really selling the whole _'I should be the one to meet with the pixies'_ deal."

Liam huffs out a breath, annoyed. "Does anyone have a _better_ idea?"

There's a brief pause, as they all stare at each other, circled around the examination table at the animal clinic, a map spread out in front of them.

"Yeah," Lydia finally says, lips pursed as she stares at the markings on the map, reaching forward to get a pen from off the table and uncap it. "Yeah, I think so."

\------

"All I'm _asking--"_ Stiles hears Liam hiss, as he and Theo make their way up the stairs (to the bedroom they're _sharing_ while they’re staying at Scott's for a bit, which is just . . . Fucking _weird_ , in his opinion, like, what kind of friends would rather _share_ a bed than have their own space?) .

"I am _not_ going to send you on a _suicide mission_ , _idiot,_ " Theo snaps back, and Stiles hears the bedroom door at the top of the stairs open, but it's still far enough that Stiles has to _really_ strain to hear Theo's mutter of, "They _specifically_ asked for no werewolves besides the True Alpha. You're taking this _'death do us part'_ thing a little too _literally_ , Liam."

Stiles frowns.

"All I'm _saying_ ," Liam continues, unfettered, "is that you _back me_ up, is that too--" and that's when the door finally shuts, and all he can hear from his eavesdropping position in the living room, crouched next to the foot of the stairs, is the sound of voices getting louder -- an argument escalating.

Stiles sighs, bored, flopping onto the couch and pulling a blanket around him. He turns on the TV and flips through the channels idly, hoping for a _new_ source of entertainment until he can finally fall asleep.

The shouting doesn't _stop_ , but after around thirty minutes, it escalates into something _physical_ , banging and thudding, but Stiles is _way_ too used to things that go _bump_ in the night, too used to Liam and Theo spending their free time breaking each other's noses, and so it lulls him to sleep even better than the awful _Friends_ reruns playing on Comedy Central.

\---

Stiles wakes up _way too early_ the next morning with a crick in his neck, and back pains, because despite how much time they all spend on it, the McCall couch Is _not_ all that comfortable, and he's not seventeen anymore.

He rolls off the couch and somehow makes his way to the coffeemaker with his eyes shut and his feet dragging across the floor (probably _years_ of practice) before turning it on and messing with the settings until it can produce the borderline-toxic black sludge that he's gotten used to over the past couple years.

It's a couple minutes into brewing, when he finally hears someone come down the stairs. It takes an internal argument with himself, but Stiles doesn't _actually_ have werewolf senses like anyone else, so he has to open his eyes to see who it is. Reluctantly, he cracks open one crusty eyelid to spot Liam sitting at one of the chairs at the dining table, hair a _mess_ , eyes completely glazed over, a dopey smile stuck on his face. Stiles narrows his eye suspiciously.

"Hey," he tries, and Liam's head turns to him, but his eyes still don't quite focus. "G'morning."

Liam stares blankly back at him for a long minute.

" _Liam,"_ Stiles snaps, before actually snapping, waving his hand around until Liam's eyes focus on him. " _Hello?_ "

"Hi," he finally says, sounding dazed.

Stiles frowns. "You okay?"

Liam nods, slowly. "I'm good," he assures Stiles. "Like so _, so_ good."

"So you're not mad anymore?" Stiles asks.

"Nah."

Stiles frowns harder, because Liam is one of the _most_ stubborn people he knows. "At all?"

"Nah."

"We’re going to fight them _without_ you," Stiles tries one last time, bewildered, "and you're not even a _little_ pissed?"

"Nah."

Stiles squints at him, assessing. "Are you _possessed?_ Do we have to have another exorcism? _God_ , this _is just_ like last year. Let me get the cross."

Liam's smile just grows wider. "Not possessed," he says, unconvincingly, because he still _sounds_ fairly possessed. "Me 'n Theo worked it out. S'all good."

There's a long pause, in which Stiles tries and _fails_ at getting a read on him, and Liam takes the opportunity to make his way into the kitchen and swipe the coffee pot from right under Stiles's nose, before turning right back around and _leaving_.

Stiles is about to make the properly affronted noise, take a running start and fight for his fucking coffee, when he sees them. The _claw marks_ on his back, running all the way from the base of Liam's neck to _underneath_ his tank top, and his reflexive indignant squawk of _"Hey, asshole!"_ escapes his throat as a strangled yell.

Liam turns his head back slowly, questioning.

" _Claws!"_ is Stiles is able to manage, mouth flapping, and when Liam tips his head to the side in confusion, Stiles flails, wild and panicked at the marks running down Liam's back, making his way towards him to inspect the damage himself.

Liam twists his head back to look, and _snorts_ when he finally sees what Stiles is talking about, which Stiles thinks is probably not the appropriate response to finding mystery gouges in your back.

Liam seems unbothered. "You should see the other guy," he assures, before escaping upstairs with _Stiles's fucking coffee_ , and Stiles is too fucking _bemused_ to even chase after him.

\---

He doesn't get what Liam's talking about, until Theo comes down a couple hours later, when it's time for them to head back to the clinic in order to keep planning.

He looks like one big bruise, half-wincing every time he _moves_ , and Stiles just silently, sympathetically, offers him some ice. Theo smiles at him, grateful.

\---

It takes them three hours at the Home Depot to gather all the rope, rat traps, nets, flammable liquids, and pixiecide ingredients they need. Stiles makes Theo carry all of it, because _he's_ the one with the supernatural strength, and also because it comes with the double-bonus of making Theo annoyed, and making the muscles in his arms bulge, which is always fun to watch.

Hey, just because he's taken, and Theo's _Theo_ , doesn't mean he can't appreciate the view. Honestly, he _deserves_ it after such a _shit_ start to their winter break, what with chaotic evil pixies and Home Depot runs and coffee thieves and Scott, Derek, and Lydia being too busy negotiating with some wack-ass Beta Pack to hang out.

"I deserve this," Stiles repeats to himself out loud, because self-affirmations are important.

Theo gives him a strange look as he adjusts his hold on their materials, and his biceps flex _harder_. Stiles stares. "Sure you do, buddy," Theo replies, placating.

That's when Theo's phone rings, loud and sudden in the relative quiet of the parking lot, making them _both_ jump.

" _Awesome_ ," Theo grits out sardonically, trying to adjust his hold on their materials _again_ , but he can't manage to shift them all to one arm. He sighs, relenting. "Can you get that for me? Back pocket."

Stiles nods, digging his hand into his back pocket to try and get it out. It's a struggle, to say the least.

" _Why_ ," Stiles says, through clenched teeth, "are your jeans so fucking _tight?"_

"Where _I'm_ from," Theo hisses back, adjusting his stance as he tries not to drop all the shit piled into his arms, "you have to buy me dinner _before_ you cop a feel."

" _You're so fucking annoying_ ," Stiles snaps, bringing his _other_ hand up to Theo's body to steady him so that he doesn't _actually_ fall over. "Stand _still_ , oh my _god."_

 _Finally_ , he manages to fish the phone out of Theo's jeans, after some more violent cursing and expletives and vague threats.

He frowns at the Caller ID.

" _'Daddy'?_ " he asks. "I thought your father was dead."

Theo sighs, like he's bracing himself.

"Stiles," he says, resolute, "just put the goddamn phone to my ear." Theo pauses for a second, before narrowing his eyes at him. "And get your _hand_ off my _ass."_

Stiles looks down, to where his steadying hand has somehow made it's way from Theo's lower back to his right buttcheek, cupping it gently. Stiles nods quickly, retrieving his hand. "Yeah," he says, "yeah, that's fair."

Stiles hits the _answer_ button, holding it up to Theo's ear.

Theo looks Stiles right in the eye, before leaning into the phone, and answering, "Hey, Liam."

 _Daddy_ , Stiles recounts detatchedly, an absent kind of dread building in his stomach. _Liam._ The two don't fit together in his head, until they _do,_ and all the thoughts in Stiles's brain screech to grinding halt.

"Oh my god," he says faintly, _horrified._ " _Oh my god."_

And then he passes out.

\---

"It's not what you think," is the first thing Theo says to him, when Stiles wakes up in the truck with a _throbbing_ headache, jolted to consciousness by Theo going over a speedbump _way_ too fast.

"I don’t think anything," Stiles says, clutching his head between his hands and shaking it, a little violently, like if he shakes it hard enough, he can wipe the last couple hours from his mind. "I'm trying _very_ hard not to think about anything at all, because if I think about it, my brain is going to melt straight out of my head."

"And you _wonder_ why we call you dramatic," Theo replies, brows raised. They pull around another corner. "No, seriously though, I'm _telling_ you. It's _not_ what you think."

"Sure," Stiles allows diplomatically, trying to keep Mambo No. 5 playing in his head, instead of thinking about--

\---

" _Daddy?_ " Stiles finally snaps, halfway back to the McCalls' place. " _DADDY?"_

Theo sighs. "You know you didn't _have_ to look at the Caller ID. So, really, if you think about it, this is _your_ fault for being nosy."

"I _wish,"_ Stiles continued, "I wish I _didn't_ know that my _child_ likes to be called _Daddy_. Oh my _god,_ " Stiles breathes, scandalized, as he considers the implications. "Does that make _you_ baby boy?"

Theo snorts loudly. "Are you saying I'm _not_ baby boy?"

Stiles doesn't dignify that with an answer. "Oh my god," he says instead, "you _deflowered_ my _son!"_

"Okay, first of all, he's like _two_ years younger than you _,"_ Theo says, looking _way_ too comfortable. Just a couple years ago, and he would've been _terrified_ that Stiles was going to, like, violently stab him or something. Stiles misses those days. "And _second_ , if you want to get _technical_ about it, _he_ deflowered _me_." There's a pause, in which Stiles tries to do the mental math for _that_ in his head. "And _third_ ," he continues, unruffled, "I _told you_ , it's _not_ a sex th--"

" _Wait,"_ Stiles says, suddenly. "Are you telling me that before you and Liam met, you were a _virgin?"_

There's a very pregnant, very _telling_ pause.

"No _way,_ " Stiles whispers, incredulous. " _What?_ But you're so--" he gestures vaguely at Theo's, well. _Everything_. "I mean, if we're not accounting for _personality--"_

"Right," Theo replies, dry as the Sahara. "Thanks so much, Stiles, you sure know how to make a guy feel special."

\---

"So, what's your secret?" Stiles asks, because silence always makes him _wildly_ uncomfortable, and it's not helping all the _horrifying_ scenes running through his head. And also because the cheek he accidentally felt up was _firm,_ like. Whoa. " _Pilates_?"

Theo thunks his head into the steering wheel three times, and Stiles feels his phantom headache come back, sympathetically. They almost run a red light.

\---

"What was the call even _about_ , anyways?" Stiles finally asks, unable to tamp down on his curiosity any longer.

Theo looks at him, assessing, like he's deliberating answering the question. Stiles puts on his most trustworthy face, which results in precisely nothing besides Theo narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Finally, he seems to deflate a little, relenting, and Stiles has to suppress a smirk.

"He wanted to know if I remembered to buy jars from the Home Depot," Theo concedes.

"What?" Stiles asks, frowning as he turns to him. "But Scott got you that whole _set_ when you first moved--"

"Yeah, I know," Theo replies, sounding resigned. "We can't use those anymore."

"Wh--?" Stiles sputters. " _Any of them?_ But there were like--"

" _A lot_ , I _know_ ," Theo huffs. "The last time I was mad at Liam, he tightened all the jar lids in the apartment so that I would have to talk to him."

There's a short silence.

"You broke the jars, didn't you?"

Theo sighs. "Yeah _."_

\---

"Oh my god," Stiles repeats, once they pull into the driveway. "Does that mean _I_ win the fifteen-thousand dollars?"

Theo almost crashes the car. "The _WHAT?"_

"You and Liam are dating, right?" Stiles asks suddenly, seeing the genuine left hand of Yoda, used during filming of The Empire Strikes back, in his future. Last he checked, it was $14,160, but, you know what? _Worth it._

"Uh," Theo says, sounding abruptly uncertain. "Not exactly."

" _What?"_ Stiles snaps, suddenly drawn out of his haze. "So you're just, what? _Fucking?"_

" _It's not a sex thing,"_ Theo repeats, expression gone long-suffering, but Stiles mostly ignores him.

"But, like. You love him."

"Yeah _."_

" _Dude_ ," Stiles says, sympathetically. "That's so messed up. Want me to kick his ass?"

Theo laughs, loud and bright, as he finally parks the car.

\---

"He _knows_ ," Theo says to Liam, when they get back to the house. His tone is equally menacing and ominous, but Liam doesn't look scared, just nervous.

Liam tilts his head. "About the--?"

"Yeah," Theo replies, before lifting one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I mean, like. Kind of. I didn't tell him about the--"

"Yeah," Liam says, nodding quickly, "yeah, no, of course not, we'll just wait until, like--"

" _Everyone."_

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Liam says.

Stiles looks between the two of them, _fascinated._

"He saw your contact name in my phone," Theo explains.

"Oh," Liam says, and then: " _Oh._ Oh, that's-- _"_

"Yeah," Theo says, "so, he thinks, that it's, y'know--"

"You _have_ to admit," Liam says, biting the inside of his cheek, looking like he's trying not to laugh, "it's a _fair_ assumption. It makes _you_ baby."

There's a brief pause.

"I hate you," Theo says, shaking his head. "I hate you so, so much. Now take out your fucking phone before he starts panicking. I'm pretty sure he's already concussed from when he passed out in the Home Depot parking lot."

\---

Reading what _Liam_ has as _Theo's_ contact name, doesn't clarify things, like, at all.

" _'Mommy'_ ," Stiles reads, disbelieving. "That's . . . Weirder. You _get_ how that's _weirder_ , right?"

Neither of them say anything.

"And . . ." Stiles continues, "it’s not a sex thing?" He looks up, just quick enough to catch Theo mouthing ' _No'_ at Liam.

" _No,"_ Liam replies slowly, dutifully.

Stiles narrows his eyes.

"Right," he says, unconvinced.

\---

After only _one_ shouting match, in which Stiles has to yell at Liam _again_ about why he can't come -- at which point he _furiously_ storms out -- they gather in the living room to put the finishing touches on their plan, before they move out at midnight.

"Okay," Stiles says to the packed room. "Theo calls Liam _'Daddy_ ' and Liam calls Theo _'Mommy',_ but they _maintain_ that it's _not_ a sex thing. Does that make it _better_ or _worse?_ " He waves vaguely at them. " _Discuss."_

There's a brief, disbelieving pause.

"Well," Lydia says, considering, "I think it's _sweet."_

Malia shakes her head vigorously. " _Definitely_ worse. It wouldn’t be _that_ bad if it _was_ a sex thing. People don't control their kinks."

"I think it's sweet too," Peter pipes up, and Lydia _immediately_ looks like she regrets her answer.

"Worse," Derek offers.

" _Why,"_ Argent says, pinching the bridge of his nose, expression gone _extremely_ pained, "am I _here?_ " He pauses. " _Wait,"_ he says suddenly, " _Liam and Theo?_ So who wins the fifteen-thousand?"

"They're not dating," Scott says despondently, at the same time Stiles opens his mouth to say the _exact same thing._

"You _knew?"_ Stiles hisses, betrayed beyond all measure. "You _knew_ and you never _said_ anything?"

"Right," Theo finally speaks up, looking _exhausted_ from where he's hunched over the map on the coffee table. "Can we _please_ concentrate here?"

" _Fine,"_ Stiles relents, before shooting another look at Scott, who winces. "This conversation isn't over."

\---

They move out at midnight.

The attempted negotiations fail, just like Stiles thought they would — they didn't bring Scott into the preserve, since the pixies were _far_ too interested in him, and _far_ too tricky to trust them with his presence.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it takes them three straight hours of pixiecide spraying, trap laying, magical fires, and Lydia fucking _lassoing_ pixies with a rope like some kind of demented cowgirl, before their pixie infestation is finally eradicated.

"Well," Theo says, _covered_ in pixie guts from head to toe, "that sucked ass."

The rest of them make noises of commiseration.

"I think," Stiles croaks, "I swallowed a wing."

He coughs wetly into his flannel, while Scott rubs his back, soothing.

\---

They all crash in the living room, like they always do after a big fight, and in the morning, Stiles hovers outside Liam and Theo's bedroom for two whole minutes, before he finally works up the nerve to just enter.

Theo's laying on the bed, shirtless, sheets pulled up to his chest, eyes a little wild. Liam is nowhere to be seen.

"You really _should_ knock," Theo grits out, through clenched teeth.

"Right," Stiles says, awkwardly, feeling off-footed all of a sudden, "sorry. Uh, good job. For last night, I mean. That was. Good thinking. With the fire, and stuff."

Theo lets out a gusty breath, which Stiles personally thinks it's a little dramatic, but whatever.

 _"Thanks, Stiles,"_ Theo says, sounding breathless, before he arches up, just a little, back bowing, mouth parted on a soundless noise, before he seems to come back to himself, shutting his mouth with so much force that his teeth click. " _Really_ ," he manages, " _thanks_. Can you _go now_? Oh, _god,_ " he gasps out, his body jackknifing, and Stiles frowns, concerned.

"You okay?" Stiles asks. "’Cause right now, you’re lookin’ a little,” he squints, “ _peaky.”_ Theo's sweaty and flushed and his eyes look a little glazed over. He reaches forward to press the back of his hand against Theo's forehead to check for a fever, but Theo dodges it, twisting away. "Did one of them _bite_ you last night? Because you _know--"_

" _No,"_ Theo insists, panting. "I'm f-f- _fuck,"_ he moans, hands clenching in the sheets as his back _bows harder_ , face screwed up. " _Fine,"_ he corrects, breathing labored. "I'm _fine_. You should _leave._ "

"Right," Stiles allows, unconvinced, "sure." He resolves to get some pixie venom antidote from Deaton later, which would hopefully help with some of the excruciating pain. "Have you seen Liam?"

Theo cracks open one eye. "What do you want with-- _Liam,"_ he moans, _loud_ , hips working persistently, raising and lowering off the mattress in a steady, predictable rhythm, and Stiles frowns, because he didn't _think_ seizures and convulsions were part of the side-effects for pixie poisoning, but he's not one-hundred percent on that.

"I wanted to apologize," Stiles says slowly, tentative. "I know he doesn't like it when we still treat him like a _kid_ , and I know he's _mature enough_ \--"

" _Oh,"_ Theo gasps out, head tilted back. "Yeah, don't worry about it," Theo replies in a rush, "we talked about it. He knows you didn't mean it like that."

"Oh," Stiles says, taken aback and pleasantly surprised. "Well. Good."

" _Good_ ," Theo echoes, agreeing. "So, so _good,_ oh my _god_ ," he breathes, hands twisting in the duvet so hard Stiles thinks it might rip. " _Please_ go away," Theo says, and Stiles is so startled he almost falls over. He doesn't think he's ever heard Theo say _please_ in his _life._

"Well," Stiles says, "I should probably still talk to him anyways. Clear the air. You know where he went?"

Theo doesn't reply for a second, swept up in another wave of pain, eyes going unfocused. It takes a couple of seconds for them to focus again.

"Oh," Theo says, surprised. "You're still here."

" _Liam,"_ Stiles prompts.

" _He's,"_ Theo gasps out, throwing his head back, " _here."_ He bites his lip against a loud whine, eyes clamping shut again, and Stiles frowns, confused, leaning to look into the bathroom, which appears empty and unoccupied, and then around the bedroom, which appears _equally_ empty and unoccupied.

Stiles hears a choked-sounding noise, and his head _whips_ back to Theo, flushed and sweaty, chest heaving and bottom lip _clamped_ between his teeth in order to -- unsuccessfully -- muffle the noises being ripped from his throat. His eyes narrow.

"He's under the blanket, isn't he."

An arm shoots out from underneath the duvet. It gives Stiles a thumbs up. Stiles stares blankly.

"That _means,"_ Theo manages, dragging in a ragged inhale, "that he _forgives_ you, so you can _go._ Fuck, _Liam, just like that."_

"I _hate_ you guys," Stiles wheezes, "so, so much, oh my _god,_ what the _fuck--"_

" _Liam,"_ Theo moans, and Stiles hears Liam humming underneath the covers, and then _choking_ underneath the covers, and Stiles stages a tactical retreat, praying for the sweet release of death, or, like, severe retrograde amnesia.

"So _much,"_ Stiles hisses, as he slams the door shut behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mason and Stiles have to go through....... a lot. Their lives are tough, what can I say  
> haha I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it :D
> 
> Tell me what you liked, what you didn't!! As always, all feedback is welcomed and highly appreciated :)  
> If you want to come scream at me on tumblr, feel free to find me at [inabottlelikelightning](https://www.inabottlelikelightning.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> There we have it!! In this timeline, thiam was already established during the 6b hunter shenanigans because it GREATLY amuses me :D make of that what you will
> 
> So? tell me what you liked, what you didn't!!! All feedback, as always, is welcome and VERY appreciated!! :D My tumblr is [inabottlelikelightning](https://www.inabottlelikelightning.tumblr.com/) if you want to come scream at me :DD love you guys!!
> 
> -lightning


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